As a writer, I've often approached writing with a very unusual system.
Instead of writing regularly as every writing blog suggests, I instead let ideas swirl through my head. Then, when the perfect idea suddenly comes along in a sparking fit of inspiration, I crack my knuckles and bang out as much I possibly can until I come to the next obstacle in my way.
Maybe it's an underdeveloped idea, or an unidentified pitfall in my reasoning. Whatever the case may be, this obstacle stops me from going further, and I'll probably impulsively check Instagram to avoid thinking about how my idea makes no sense.
This style is flawed in many ways, but it all stems from one cause: waiting for motivation to strike me.
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Think of all of your goals as doors, with a lock that only a certain type of key can unlock. That key is floating in a bottle somewhere in the ocean. You wait near the shore of your nearby beach, hoping that that key will come to shore.
Suddenly, the gleam of an object comes into view. There it is! The key - your motivation - has finally come to you after waiting for all of this time! Excited, you run to the first door you want to unlock. Sure enough, the key fits and the door opens. Then, you open another door. And another. And another.
Eventually, the key becomes rusted, bent out of shape, and unusable - like an enzyme with too much heat. Will you go back to the shore and wait for another key to pop up? Why not, instead, kick down the door? Why not Google a lock-picking tutorial? Why not get the aid of a friend to help open the locked doors? Why limit your ability to achieve goals to sparks of motivation, when there are so many more ways you can move towards your goal?
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Obviously, getting up and doing something isn't easy to do. In our culture of perfectionism, it's easy to get lost while wading into the murky waters of our goals without the light of motivation to cut through. However, taking that first step into your goal will prime you for the rest of the journey. As Anne Lamott would say, "Take it bird by bird."
Let's say, for example, you want to get more fit. You can read an article, make a detailed plan, and get mentally hyped for the journey you'll start tomorrow. Or, you can get up after reading this article, take a walk around the block or prepare a healthy lunch for tomorrow, and feel so much more confident in your ability to reach the goal. After all, you took a step towards reaching it - even if it was a small step - right?
And it's okay if that step wasn't the right step to take. Maybe you ate more cookies than you should have. Maybe you slipped up on a test that brought your GPA down. Maybe the chapter you wrote for your newest story is flat-out terrible. Now, you have the experience and knowledge necessary to take a better step in the future.
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You are amazing, you are intelligent, you are beautiful, you are kind, and you are you. Whether or not these adjectives align with how you feel about yourself, you and only you have everything inside of you that you need to make your dreams come true. Setting yourself free from the self-fulfilling prophecy of waiting for motivation will take you one step closer to reaching the stars that you seek.